The present invention relates to shutters, and more particularly to shutters useful for blocking laser energy.
Various forms of shutters have been developed for blocking and passing laser beams and laser pulses. Typically they comprise an iris form of device which can be opened and closed to pass or block the energy, or a flag type device which is used to selectively block the laser beam. Shutters of this nature which are designed for automatic operation generally use some form of push-pull solenoid system for opening and closing the iris or moving the shutter. Systems of this nature require power to maintain the shutter in a given position, and result in energy consumption and heat build up. For example, with the flag type shutter the solenoid is energized to turn "on" the system to move the flag to a position to pass the beam. Because of the consumption of current and heat build up such devices are of low reliability. Furthermore, when the shutter is closed, in the case of either the iris type or the flag type of shutter, the beam hits or impinges on the same point or area of the shutter and therefore the blocked beam can rapidly deteriorate the shutter.